Episode #91 "Hostile Takeover"

[Dadrian]

I know we’ve talked a lot about “suspension of disbelief” a lot here in various threads, and the Brunette saga really requires a lot of that. If you go with that, and maybe empathize a little bit with some time in your life that you’ve gone through some kind of personal crisis that altered your normal psyche, and you were ultimately received by your loved ones after you finally broke through, you can identify with (and enjoy) these episodes. We’ve all been less than our best before. 

[Sonny-Burnett]

On 8/17/2010 at 5:52 AM, Tommy Vercetti said:

Now we enter season 5. I'm a big fan of this season. It was a return to form and consistency for the show after the mostly lacklustre fourth season. Season 5 got off to a great start with this episode. Mirror Image was such a strong ep, one of the best infact, that the other Burnett eps fall somewhat short of it. But Hostile Takeover is still a very top notch ep. DJ did a good job directing it.Fantastic opener. Great song ('Underneath the Radar'), aerial shots of Miami, action and cool intro to Burnett. Great stuff.Burnett has really come up the world since we last saw him. He's ruthless, efficient, smart. I especially like when he gave those men the itinery. "Each and every one of you will be millionaires within two years". And the whole trilogy is very Scarface, which is cool.Debra Feuer is certainly a highlight of the Burnett trilogy. She's one of the hottest ladies who was ever on Vice. Here she plays a character very similar to the one she played in To Live and Die In LA (classic). I especially like the scene with the song 'Walk and Talk Like Angels'. Very nice scene and great song.I actually like El Gato because he is so much like Ricardo Diaz from Vice City. Rockstar had to have based Diaz on El Gato. Victor Argo was good as always but, if I'm honest, I'm not really that keen on Matt Frewer. I just didn't buy him as a villain, and such a cold blooded one at that.Very tense ending with Rico confronting Sonny again. It looked like Rico had gotten through to him but then, BANG! We'll have to wait for the next ep to see what happened. I like the location too, at the lighthouse in Bill Baggs State Park in Key Biscayne. The last time it was on the show was way back in season one in Calderone's Return.Overall, an excellent episode. 9/10

Couldn't agree more. I like this episode as one of my favorites ( I like ALL the Burnett episodes)...great opening music and intro to the ruthless Burnett character. It seemed DJ relished playing his alter ego. Johnson just plays the bad boy perfectly. My only issues would be with the El Gato character as I found him more laughable than a threat, and I agree with TV that Matt Frewer wasn't exuding the kind of evil I'd expect from a ruthless killer. I still see him as Max Headroom...lol. Still the Truman music was excellent and Debra Feuer played the Celeste character well as the smart and seductive co-conspirator with Burnett. One of the best scenes in S5  is the pool scene with Celeste and Miguel to the song Walk and Talk like Angels. And I know someone who visited the lighthouse and recreated the scene...she told me that the jump Rico made would have been impossible due to the height of the window. 

[ViceFanMan]

9 hours ago, Assasinge said:

Well let me put it this way. I never said that 4/5 don't have any good episodes, obviously they still do and there are ones I love like Baseballs of Death or Death and the Lady etc. but that wasn't my point, my point is that the Burnett Saga or Arc, whatever it's called around here was unnecessary and for me completely pulled me out of the show. Sure it's interesting to see Crockett go over to the dark side and I think if it had lasted 1 episode or just a 2 parter where he doesn't do something as drastic as shoot Tubbs and go on murder sprees it might not have been so bad, but the fact that he did and completely obliterated his cop identity, yet he is allowed to be reinstated in Redemption in Blood is total bull and we all know it, don't we? That's why the writers wrote themselves into a corner I said, because once "Burnett" had done all he had they shouldn't have let him back and they might as well just end the show there or something. It felt like a "Oh man, we don't have any ideas for Miami Vice so let's make Crockett a bad guy and stall while we think of something to do for this last season" to me, at least. That's all. Personally compared to season 1-2, maybe even 3 the whole look of 4 and 5 overall felt really drab and washed out but that's just me.

I agree...the writers were too ridiculous in making Crockett/Burnett a psychotic killer. However, he ultimately did have somewhat of a caring & even understanding side—as if some of Crockett was still there & “seeped” into Burnett’s personality, without Burnett even realizing it. But, you’re right...it was mostly bull & totally ridiculous. He went so overboard there would have been no way back.  Like I said before, they were desperately trying to regain ratings & viewers and I think they went for the shock-value idea. Problem is they went too far & it sadly backfired. 

4 hours ago, vicegirl85 said:

I agree 100% that Crockett would never have been reinstated in OCB after the amnesia episode.  That was totally out of the realm of possibility.

But I think with the emotional and physical trauma he's endured between Caitlin's murder, his own act of personal revenge on Hackman, and the boat explosion, the whole amnesia thing could have happened.  And when he woke up/regained consciousness in a strange place, with dubious medical attention and no one around him that he knew (but people telling him he was a drug dealer), the fact that he took on the drug dealer identity he'd assumed in the past (so it felt familiar even if he didn't consciously remember it) has some believability as well.  

Would Crockett really have been as ruthless as Burnett was shown to be?  Would he have recognized Tubbs and regained his memories of his real life, instead of shooting Tubbs?

I think there's room for debate and I don't blame anyone for feeling the whole storyline is too far-fetched.  But with some actual medical background and research I've done, the basic storyline is possible and I think in many ways the writers laid the groundwork for Crockett to be broken and to lose his identity as a cop.

To each his own, but I have always felt there was some strong storytelling in the Burnett saga/arc.  The afterwards, when Crockett is reinstated and even does some undercover work... not so much.  IMO he should have been medically retired for mental health reasons, or at the very most lenient, given some kind of desk job.  Anything stressful would probably have been seen as a potential trigger to send him back over the edge.

Whoever was in charge missed an opportunity for delving into the reintegration of Crockett's personality and his efforts to regain the trust of his former teammates.  But of course, those story ideas may have seemed dull and plodding, and didn't offer potential for car chases, gunfights, and flashy style.

Agree...the possibility that Crockett lost-it and became his alter-ego after the head injury in the boat explosion is plausible. And for being ruthless...Burnett actually seemed to have a little bit of Crockett’s caring or understanding side, besides the killer aspect. He wasn’t all psycho-sociopath.  

But, yeah there’s NO way he’d of ever been allowed back!   I think you’re right—in reality he’d of been (probably quietly) medically/mentally retired out. 

[Glades]

6 hours ago, Dadrian said:

I know we’ve talked a lot about “suspension of disbelief” a lot here in various threads, and the Brunette saga really requires a lot of that. If you go with that, and maybe empathize a little bit with some time in your life that you’ve gone through some kind of personal crisis that altered your normal psyche, and you were ultimately received by your loved ones after you finally broke through, you can identify with (and enjoy) these episodes. We’ve all been less than our best before. 

I like this. On a more abstract level the Burnett arc is totally believable to me.

It´s possible and happens more often than one is able to recognize that someone goes to a deep personal crisis which threatens ones life and/or ones mental sanity and throws you out of the usual social context. And more than this, that this person come back to the normal society and become a very helpful person.
Some people I admire had deep personal crisis, growth with that and become great persons. And usually I didn´t know about that crisis for a long time.

So, if you see the Burnett arc more as a inner experience or a parable (not as a dream!) of Crockett than that it happened literally in the outer world (like a report) it is quite reasonable to me.

[Robbie C.]

On 12/3/2019 at 5:07 PM, vicegirl85 said:

I agree 100% that Crockett would never have been reinstated in OCB after the amnesia episode.  That was totally out of the realm of possibility.

But I think with the emotional and physical trauma he's endured between Caitlin's murder, his own act of personal revenge on Hackman, and the boat explosion, the whole amnesia thing could have happened.  And when he woke up/regained consciousness in a strange place, with dubious medical attention and no one around him that he knew (but people telling him he was a drug dealer), the fact that he took on the drug dealer identity he'd assumed in the past (so it felt familiar even if he didn't consciously remember it) has some believability as well.  

Would Crockett really have been as ruthless as Burnett was shown to be?  Would he have recognized Tubbs and regained his memories of his real life, instead of shooting Tubbs?

I think there's room for debate and I don't blame anyone for feeling the whole storyline is too far-fetched.  But with some actual medical background and research I've done, the basic storyline is possible and I think in many ways the writers laid the groundwork for Crockett to be broken and to lose his identity as a cop.

To each his own, but I have always felt there was some strong storytelling in the Burnett saga/arc.  The afterwards, when Crockett is reinstated and even does some undercover work... not so much.  IMO he should have been medically retired for mental health reasons, or at the very most lenient, given some kind of desk job.  Anything stressful would probably have been seen as a potential trigger to send him back over the edge.

Whoever was in charge missed an opportunity for delving into the reintegration of Crockett's personality and his efforts to regain the trust of his former teammates.  But of course, those story ideas may have seemed dull and plodding, and didn't offer potential for car chases, gunfights, and flashy style.

Just like the producers missed major opportunities exploring Stan's anger and resentment toward Crockett after Down for the Count. Some VERY good episodes could have come from that, but they missed the boat. They also could have spun some of Tubbs' dirty laundry from New York (like how his pending charges for his actions in the aftermath of his brother's death), but never did.

Frankly, I get tired of people bashing the writers for these arcs. It's the producers who called the shots back then, and if you look at draft scripts you see many, many good scenes and elements cut away before filming. Writers tend to pitch what they're asked for, and write what they're told to write...at least back then.

Also consider...what was Vice competing against at this point? Dallas. Dallas was a nighttime soap opera. One of the MAJOR plotting elements in the daytime soaps at this time was the whole amnesia arc. Good character gets hit over the head, goes bad, and then 'returns' to start again. I think what you're seeing with this arc is a desperate attempt by the producers to grab elements from their competition without understanding the basics behind them. And that shouldn't surprise anyone. Vice made its name by being style over substance, and having to switch gears partway through would have been a stretch, especially given the nature of the people running things.

[vicegirl85]

1 hour ago, Robbie C. said:

Frankly, I get tired of people bashing the writers for these arcs. It's the producers who called the shots back then, and if you look at draft scripts you see many, many good scenes and elements cut away before filming. Writers tend to pitch what they're asked for, and write what they're told to write...at least back then.

Definitely agree with this!

1 hour ago, Robbie C. said:

Also consider...what was Vice competing against at this point? Dallas. Dallas was a nighttime soap opera. One of the MAJOR plotting elements in the daytime soaps at this time was the whole amnesia arc. Good character gets hit over the head, goes bad, and then 'returns' to start again. I think what you're seeing with this arc is a desperate attempt by the producers to grab elements from their competition without understanding the basics behind them. 

Although I agree with most of this as well, I think the "Burnett arc" does have a basis in the MV arc as a whole.  Crockett recognized from the start of the series that he could potentially go too far into his cover identity, and finally the sequence of events occurred that tipped his balance.  There was room for improvement in the execution of that storyline, but the groundwork was laid, and it followed through with a concept that was present from the beginning.  However, the show runners handled the aftermath in a soapy fashion, as you say, and did not follow through to a logical conclusion.

[ViceFanMan]

2 hours ago, vicegirl85 said:

Definitely agree with this!

Although I agree with most of this as well, I think the "Burnett arc" does have a basis in the MV arc as a whole.  Crockett recognized from the start of the series that he could potentially go too far into his cover identity, and finally the sequence of events occurred that tipped his balance.  There was room for improvement in the execution of that storyline, but the groundwork was laid, and it followed through with a concept that was present from the beginning.  However, the show runners handled the aftermath in a soapy fashion, as you say, and did not follow through to a logical conclusion.

I agree...definite room for improvement and/or a better way to have handled it. Whether writers, or producers, or both...the way the whole “Burnett saga” was done was ridiculous (my opinion)! 

I love Dallas as well as MV—but two different types of shows! One you can do “wild” storylines of amnesia, people not really being dead & its all just another cast member’s bizarre dream, etc... The other is a totally different kind of show—more “gritty” and “dark”, more on reality (to an extent) and not focused on ‘soap’ styled plots.  

[Robbie C.]

3 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

I agree...definite room for improvement and/or a better way to have handled it. Whether writers, or producers, or both...the way the whole “Burnett saga” was done was ridiculous (my opinion)! 

I love Dallas as well as MV—but two different types of shows! One you can do “wild” storylines of amnesia, people not really being dead & its all just another cast member’s bizarre dream, etc... The other is a totally different kind of show—more “gritty” and “dark”, more on reality (to an extent) and not focused on ‘soap’ styled plots.  

People seem to continually forget...Dallas was the competition during the last few seasons of Vice. Given that Vice never had strong direction when it came to any aspect of production that wasn't geared toward music or visuals, it makes sense they'd start grasping at straws to try to compete. They were two different shows, but they were competing for the same viewers in the same timeslot, at least in the minds of the execs calling the shots. That means they were going to try to lure viewers away with what they thought those people wanted to see.

 

5 hours ago, vicegirl85 said:

Definitely agree with this!

Although I agree with most of this as well, I think the "Burnett arc" does have a basis in the MV arc as a whole.  Crockett recognized from the start of the series that he could potentially go too far into his cover identity, and finally the sequence of events occurred that tipped his balance.  There was room for improvement in the execution of that storyline, but the groundwork was laid, and it followed through with a concept that was present from the beginning.  However, the show runners handled the aftermath in a soapy fashion, as you say, and did not follow through to a logical conclusion.

I happen to like the Burnett arc quite a bit, and also feel that it was (at least at first) pretty well grounded in Vice canon. Especially as Burnett shifted from just another guy with a boat to something more serious (I'd say sometime in season 2 going into season 3). It fell apart because Vice was never really designed to carry any kind of story arc, especially if it centered on Crockett.

[ViceFanMan]

25 minutes ago, Robbie C. said:

People seem to continually forget...Dallas was the competition during the last few seasons of Vice. Given that Vice never had strong direction when it came to any aspect of production that wasn't geared toward music or visuals, it makes sense they'd start grasping at straws to try to compete. They were two different shows, but they were competing for the same viewers in the same timeslot, at least in the minds of the execs calling the shots. That means they were going to try to lure viewers away with what they thought those people wanted to see.

I didn’t forget that they were competing against each other in the same time slot at that time.  But I still say, MV trying to copy plot ideas from Dallas was and/or would have been ridiculous (if they really did try & use plots from them)! It would have been one thing if Dallas had been another cop or crime-drama, and they were looking to try and use some of their ideas...but Dallas was a soap! 

If Dallas had suddenly tried using plot ideas & the style of MV...people would’ve been like—what the ‘heck’?   Lol!   It would NOT have worked. Over-the-top ‘soap’ style plots was NOT MV. Even though the two shows were in competition for viewers, they both needed to try and stick to their own styles...Dallas did, but sadly MV had kind of lost its way. With different writers all the time & subsequently certain character/storyline arcs dropped or abandoned...then some ridiculous storylines (such as the multiple “Burnett Saga”) viewers were frustrated. 

I still say they could have & should have handled the “Burnett Saga” way better & more MV-like. It also should have just been a 2-pt storyline, instead of 4-pts!   Again, Dallas was the ‘soap’...MV was the ‘grit’.  

Edited December 30, 2019 by ViceFanMan

[Robbie C.]

Dallas was the established show in that time slot and THE game to beat. If you think the producers weren't looking at that and trying to figure out how to lure people over...all the emojis in the world won't change that. And Vice was never really grit exactly. It was flash, at least in the popular perception. I happen to like the more gritty episodes, but they're often the ones people complain about the most here.

Changing writers doesn't matter as much IF you have a solid production team who know what they're after. Clearly Vice did NOT have that going for it by the time it shifted to take on Dallas. Vice had for the most part sacrificed solid character development and any hope of a real ensemble cast for flash and showcasing Don Johnson, and that left it in a very weak position to take on a show with a solid, developed ensemble cast and focused writing.

And honestly the Burnett saga was handled in a very Vice-like manner...just like the pilot. Pretend the bad stuff never happened and move on to the next case like nothing out of the ordinary took place. It doesn't get any more Vice-like than that.

[ViceFanMan]

1 hour ago, Robbie C. said:

Dallas was the established show in that time slot and THE game to beat. If you think the producers weren't looking at that and trying to figure out how to lure people over...all the emojis in the world won't change that. And Vice was never really grit exactly. It was flash, at least in the popular perception. I happen to like the more gritty episodes, but they're often the ones people complain about the most here.

Changing writers doesn't matter as much IF you have a solid production team who know what they're after. Clearly Vice did NOT have that going for it by the time it shifted to take on Dallas. Vice had for the most part sacrificed solid character development and any hope of a real ensemble cast for flash and showcasing Don Johnson, and that left it in a very weak position to take on a show with a solid, developed ensemble cast and focused writing.

And honestly the Burnett saga was handled in a very Vice-like manner...just like the pilot. Pretend the bad stuff never happened and move on to the next case like nothing out of the ordinary took place. It doesn't get any more Vice-like than that.

“Dallas” was the show to try and beat at the time...true. I’m sure, and we can pretty much tell, that MV producers were trying to find someway to lure viewers back. They just didn’t have a solid team to figure it out right...I agree. 

But, changing writers DOES matter if they create ridiculous or bizarre storylines & abandon or do-away with others that were already established for viewers & fans. I think it was a combination of both...bad plots and a struggling production team that ultimately led to the demise of MV.

I still say MV was very ‘gritty’...for its time. It was flashy too, yes...but still dark & gritty at the same time! That’s what made its neo-noir charm so iconic. But, that’s not what Dallas was...and trying to incorporate their soap-style story arcs with the whole “Burnett Saga” on MV was another bad decision of both the writers and producers. I’ve not heard or seen that many fans complain of the dark or gritty aspects of MV...mainly only the bizarre and/or ridiculous plots of some of the episodes in the last couple seasons. 

The ‘move on & pretend the bad stuff didn’t happen’ style was not necessarily just MV-like...that was kind of the style of all crime shows back then. Everything got settled in 1 or maybe 2 episodes, and then on to the next thing with most likely never returning to a previous issue or character from a previous episode.

But when you have a 4-part episode, no-less, about pretty much destroying and/or ruining one of the main characters/stars with a beyond ridiculous, over-the-top storyline—and then try to move on like nothing happened...it’s not going to go over well with fans. That was NOT what MV was about...not that ‘soapy’. For the time, MV was more about reality (to an extent) and not silly unrealistic ‘drama’ that one would expect on Dallas. 

The “Burnett Saga” should have been done WAY better, and whittled down to a 2-parter. I still say MV was the grit...Dallas was the soap.  

Edited December 30, 2019 by ViceFanMan

[Robbie C.]

Writers don’t just appear out of the blue and say “do my strange story” and it gets done. Not sure where you get that idea. Someone higher in the production has to approve it, and they’re also the ones screening proposed scripts. And I think you’re confusing episodic (which is what many cop shows were at the time) with the sort of “pretend bad stuff didn’t happen” that Vice was doing from the beginning.

[ViceFanMan]

44 minutes ago, Robbie C. said:

Writers don’t just appear out of the blue and say “do my strange story” and it gets done. Not sure where you get that idea. Someone higher in the production has to approve it, and they’re also the ones screening proposed scripts. And I think you’re confusing episodic (which is what many cop shows were at the time) with the sort of “pretend bad stuff didn’t happen” that Vice was doing from the beginning.

The writers, whether out of the blue or not, had to come up with their “strange plots”...then the producers obviously ok-d them. Both bad scripts or storylines, along with poor production management is what caused MV to start slipping. 

I’m not confusing anything with what I said about the “pretend the bad stuff didn’t happen”...most shows, including MV, were doing that at the time. If something bad happened to one of the characters, or one of  the characters did something bad or wrong themselves, it usually got dealt with in that episode and was not mentioned again (sometimes you had a 2-pt episode, depending). 

But the the insanely long, ridiculous plot of the 4-pt Burnett-Saga went WAY beyond that! As I said before, they basically destroyed or ruined one of the main characters! Then tried to come back and ‘pretend’ it didn’t happen. It was too much, too whacky, and too bizarre. It backfired and caused MV to slip even further. 

[RedDragon86]

One thing that bothered me about El Gato was why didn't he take over his brother estate/art gallery and live in his big fancy house? 

By the end he was broke, a total down and outer.

Edited June 21, 2020 by RedDragon86

[Tom]

Am 30.12.2019 um 08:15 schrieb ViceFanMan:

The writers, whether out of the blue or not, had to come up with their “strange plots”...then the producers obviously ok-d them. Both bad scripts or storylines, along with poor production management is what caused MV to start slipping. 

I’m not confusing anything with what I said about the “pretend the bad stuff didn’t happen”...most shows, including MV, were doing that at the time. If something bad happened to one of the characters, or one of  the characters did something bad or wrong themselves, it usually got dealt with in that episode and was not mentioned again (sometimes you had a 2-pt episode, depending). 

But the the insanely long, ridiculous plot of the 4-pt Burnett-Saga went WAY beyond that! As I said before, they basically destroyed or ruined one of the main characters! Then tried to come back and ‘pretend’ it didn’t happen. It was too much, too whacky, and too bizarre. It backfired and caused MV to slip even further. 

Everybody is entitled to his own opinion. Just two remarks:

the Burnett saga was no 4-parter, a 2.5 parter at best. He lost his memory at the beginning of Mirror Image and his Memory came back half-way through Redemption in blood. No 4 episodes here.

“pretend bad stuff did not happen”: IMHO this is exactly NOT a feature of MV -that showed consequences and often let bad guys win like in real life- but rather of Dallas and other soaps. How often was some major character killed off there and then returned because the death was just a “bad dream”? 

[ViceFanMan]

5 hours ago, Tom said:

Everybody is entitled to his own opinion. Just two remarks:

the Burnett saga was no 4-parter, a 2.5 parter at best. He lost his memory at the beginning of Mirror Image and his Memory came back half-way through Redemption in blood. No 4 episodes here.

“pretend bad stuff did not happen”: IMHO this is exactly NOT a feature of MV -that showed consequences and often let bad guys win like in real life- but rather of Dallas and other soaps. How often was some major character killed off there and then returned because the death was just a “bad dream”? 

The “Burnett Saga”, according to most, supposedly starts with season 4’s Deliver Us From Evil, then continues on through Mirror Image (the season finale), Hostile Takeover (season 5 premiere), and ultimately concludes with Redemption in Blood. There’s your 4 parts.  However, personally I disagree and to me Deliver Us From Evil is not truly part of that whole Burnett-crap (it leads up to it, but it’s not technically part of it, in my opinion)...making the saga 3 parts, not 4. 

MV was not a prime time drama (such as Dallas), therefore whatever “bad stuff”, issues, consequences, etc...were going to happen & get dealt with in usually that episode. It wasn’t going to continue on into multiple episodes to create a drawn out storyline...it wasn’t a soap-drama, that wasn’t MV’s style. However, the Burnett-Saga sort of tried that idea, and it did not work!  It was so over-the-top, and so “destructive” to the character of Crockett, that it made it seem totally ridiculous & unrealistic that he was still allowed to be a cop & be on the force. Dallas could do that...but it didn’t work for MV. 

Edited June 21, 2020 by ViceFanMan

[Jack Gretsky]

A strong and vivid season 5 opener.  Suspension of disbelief is required, but isn't it always?  Even the most realistic and down-to-earth dramas are enhanced and stylized dreamscapes in which we watch engrossing characters interact.  I prefer the "normal" MV tales of Crockett & Tubbs investigating a case with its shocking twists and turns, but this almost comic-book like saga of Evil Sonny is enjoyable as well - despite it not being credible in "real" life. 

Sonny looks great with his pulled-back hair and dark suits.  Several people don't seem to like Jon Polito's emotive El Gato, but I enjoyed seeing him here before his excellent run in several Coen brothers films.  Polito played a magnificent gangster in their Miller's Crossing. It's also cool seeing Debra Feuer who played Willem Dafoe's moll in one of my all-time favorites To Live and Die in L.A. Also funny seeing Rockford's "Becker" and Max Headroom; Frewer was amusingly sly. 

Some of the Truman score is good when it's most like Hammer, less so with conventional screechy electric guitar sounds. 

Edited September 9, 2020 by Jack Gretsky

[TylerDurden389]

I still say they should've had Sonny be the main target for the entire season. Constantly eluding his Dade-buddies and the cops in general due to his unknown familiarity of what cops do to find perps (sort of like how Jason bourne knows how to fight, despite not remembering being taught). The 2nd to last episode ends with him in the same explosion, getting his memory back, and instead of him surrounded by his crew with guns drawn on him in a circle at the office, it's a big, outside dolly shot, fire and rubble everywhere, with the Dade-crew, SWAT officers, and dozens of regular blue-uniform cops surrounding him with their guns drawn. Freeze frame when the camera is about 50 feet up, "To Be Concluded", "Created by Michael Mann".

Anyone here who draws MV fan art, I would LOVE to see this image in my head in real life.

Edited September 11, 2020 by TylerDurden389

[ViceFanMan]

2 minutes ago, TylerDurden389 said:

I still say they should've had Sonny be the main target for the entire season. Constantly eluding his Dade-buddies and the cops in general due to his unknown familiarity of what cops do to find perps (sort of like how Jason bourne knows how to fight, despite not remembering being taught). The 2nd to last episode ends with him in the same explosion, getting his memory back, and instead of him surrounded y his crew with guns drawn on him in a circle, it's a big, outside dolly shot, fire and rubble everywhere, with the Dade-crew, SWAT officers, and dozens regular blue-uniform cops surrounding him with their guns drawn. Freeze frame when the camera is about 50 feet up, "To Be Concluded".

Anyone here who draws MV fan art, I would LOVE to see this image in my head in real life.

Interesting idea...and actually sounds like it could have been an idea they would have done. However, the 4 parts they did do with the whole “Burnett-saga” didn’t really go over well.

A continuing storyline against one of the main stars wasn’t really what fans were wanting for a show like MV...more fitting for a drama-show like Dallas or Knots Landing. Back then, if it was a cop/crime show & a storyline was dealing with one of the main stars, it better be dealt with in maybe 2 parts, and then you gotta move on. 

Personally I didn’t like the 4-pt Burnett plot, as it was over-the-top bizarre and WAY too destructive to the character of Crockett. But, that’s my opinion...to each his or her own!  I still do watch em when going through the show, lol! 

[RedDragon86]

I find it hard to believe that Manolo, a sophisticated man had an idiot brother next in line to take over his business.

El Gato, the actor from The Coen films ruined it for me. 

 

[vicegirl85]

2 hours ago, RedDragon86 said:

I find it hard to believe that Manolo, a sophisticated man had an idiot brother next in line to take over his business.

El Gato, the actor from The Coen films ruined it for me. 

Yes, that's pretty hard to swallow.

[Robbie C.]

14 hours ago, RedDragon86 said:

I find it hard to believe that Manolo, a sophisticated man had an idiot brother next in line to take over his business.

El Gato, the actor from The Coen films ruined it for me. 

 

He didn't. Gato had his own network, and moved in to avenge his brother. As near as I can tell he wasn't involved in the main Manolo operation. It was more of a blood feud situation with him and the Carreras/Burnett.

And the crazy brother/whatever trope is pretty well established in these things. No one expected Tony Montana to take over until he did (he was crazy, lacked sophistication, you name it), and if you turn to the real world most people thought El Chapo was harmless until they didn't.

[ViceFanMan]

14 hours ago, RedDragon86 said:

I find it hard to believe that Manolo, a sophisticated man had an idiot brother next in line to take over his business.

El Gato, the actor from The Coen films ruined it for me. 

 

Yeah, all of this was pretty weird...and “El Gato” was ridiculous!  

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

I loved Sonny Burnett, the one-man army against the cartels. Yeah, I know he was also in a cartel, but how he systematically laid waste to his competitors was a pleasure for me to watch. 

[Eillio Martin Imbasciati]

On 2/27/2021 at 3:01 PM, Eillio Martin Imbasciati said:

I loved Sonny Burnett, the one-man army against the cartels. Yeah, I know he was also in a cartel, but how he systematically laid waste to his competitors was a pleasure for me to watch. 

Ugh...I knew I had more to my comment, but I lost focus midstream; in reference to the swath that Sonny Burnett cut through the drug cartels, I got to thinking back to what J.J. Johnston said to Crockett in 'The Prodigal Son Part II' about Sonny being turned down by American Express. Well, I bet Sonny BURNETT wouldn't be turned down by AMEX!